Initial information in project startup

[fredrikasberg]

Hi there, I would like to share a draft of my newly created first document that I will send to my clients in order get as much information as possible in order to create the budget. I would appreciate if someone has any good tips, since I am fairly new in the business.

 

So these are questions that I will initially ask in order to create a time table and price tag. Is there something that is missing? (Im sorry if the enlgish is not perfect in this one, afterall its not my mother tongue and I've just made a draft so far)

 

Purpose

What is the main purpose for the images? (Selling, Esthetical, Innovative etc.)

 

Target Audience

To whom are the pictures created for? (Owners, Buyers, Constructors, etc.)

 

Details – Interiors

How detailed should the pictures be when it comes to Furnitures, Appliances, Windows and Doors, Plants etc. (Fotorealistic, Realistic, Simple, Prototype)

 

Details - Materials/Colors

How detailed should the pictures be when it comes to materials and colors (Fotorealistic, Realistic, Simple, Prototype)

 

Feelings – Story Telling

What kind of feelings do you want to evoke? (Joyful, Luxury, Wow!, Romance, Family, Though, New, Rustic, Cheap…)

 

Format

What format should the pictures be in? (HD print, HD for web, Smaller images)

 

Foundation

Where is the project right now, what do you already know? (3D Construction plans, 2D CAD-files, Detailed sketches, Simple sketches, Prototype)

 

Deadline

When should the project be ready?

 

I will go through these questions with the clients, and hopefully I could base a price after the information, describing the conditions when it comes to revisions and additional fees.

[TomasEsperanza]

(Personally I don't deal directly with the clients in my work, but) these seem like sensible/relevant questions. I can hear most of the conversations (in a small office), and I know that establishing a clear context for the work allows me to hit the brief.

 

Of course (as a customer) one doesn't want to be given a massive questionnaire when initiating a transaction, but I presume your draft may be more of a check list for yourself to refer too during an initial telephone consultation (that one might set up after receiving an email enquiry).

 

I guess with experience in dealing with these enquiries, you will begin to prioritise these questions, in order to save time discussing a prospective job that will never happen (because of non-viable circumstances); "We want an animation by tomorrow!"

 

The first questions I'd want answers to are: "What's the deliverable?" and "When does it have to be done by?". Then I'd think about if this is possible, then I'd consider how much money I'd want to make the job worthwhile. Then I'd pin down a timeline of deliverables/reviews and payments.

 

So yeah I guess it's just common sense, with a dose of experience.

 

Best wishes.

[fredrikasberg]

Thanks Thomas for the reply, you have some great comments that I will bring to my project

 

It's that very thing that I think is a little bit hard to balance. What should I ask from the customer, and what should I create in forehand to give suggestions/ideas of how it will look like. I am planning on making really simple basic models in the beginning, to create the fast renderings without their materials and so on. And then go through it once again and to start building the more detailed decorations and furniture.

 

I did go to the meeting with this draft and presented it as a material that would make the process faster, the more info I could get, the faster the delivery and of course they wanted the job to be done as soon as possible My job is to take their ideas of how their future hotel will look like, and they are not to far in the designprocess yet, so the more info I can get the better.

 

Thanks for the help!

[Francisco Penaloza]

I think we all would like the perfect project and the perfect client, but believe that not happens most of the time, most of the time the client does not know what he/her wants. They know they want/need a nice image/video that express their projects and dreams. That's all.

After I read your questions I agree with Thomas, it feels like you'll scare the client more than get good answer from them.

 

I think some of your questions should be decisions that you should make after meeting your prospect client. For example level of detail. Unless a client come with a product visualization project or they are a furniture manufacturer most of them they don't know how much detail it has to be.

 

To me the fist questions are, When they need it, how many or how long the video will be, how much is their budget. Even with only that, you can figure out how detail you will put in your modeling. When you all agree in those basic questions, then you can ask how much info they have and you can explain how you will like to work with them. How many revisions, what they can expect from you, what are your basics needs to produce a image.

 

Remember the ArchViz is not only a product, it is also a service, our main goal is not create a photo realistic image, our main goal it is create a image that explain the project and get everybody exited about it.

[fredrikasberg]

Yeah I agree and what my company is all about is to satisfy the customer needs, and in this case the client is a good friend so we vave very good communication. And in this case they also have a lot of already detailed stuff, so I am glad that I am going through it in the beginning in order to prevent waste! Also think it feels good to show them the process, so that they get a better understanding. They had no Idea how to go about the project, thought that I was going to take pictures of the unfinished rooms and edit it in photoshop in the beginning

 

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[fredrikasberg]

Asking about the details of the furniture is also to see a little bit what they are aiming for, what the pictures should be used for.

 

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[Stan Zaslavsky]

Hi Fredrik,

 

We have experimented in having our clients sent to a questionnaire that they have to fill out.

 

You can see the questions (and borrow them if you like) here: http://www.eaglevision.com.au/3d-works/

 

But what we have found is that most often that questionnaire acts as a barrier and most prospective clients don't bother filling it out unless they are really detailed and understand absolutely what kind of imagery they would like.

 

The other side of it is that it actually makes us look bad that we have to ask all these questions and we should actually do our own research and be the ones acting as the expert and recommending what the clients should have.

 

(Needless to say - we pretty much don't use that questionnaire form in 99% of cases).

 

Ultimately they are coming to us and paying us money to be a consultant rather than an order taker who just presses buttons on the computer.

 

Just my 2c worth.

[fredrikasberg]

Hi Stan!

 

Thanks for your post! Our looked pretty similiar in some ways, and I can see that most clients wont fill them up. It would have been nice though and I think you could cut a lot of waste if you can get as much info as early as possible. I havent had time too look more into it, so thanks a lot for the help.

 

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